Pages

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Welcome to my stop on the
Virtual Book Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for Evolved by Archer Miller. Please leave a comment or question for Archer to let
him know you stopped by. You may enter
his tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. You may follow all of the stops on the tour
by clicking on the banner above, the more stops you visit, the better your
chances of winning. Good Luck!

The
Science of What If? By Archer Miller

Even
if fantasy is not counted, science fiction is split into a number of fragmented
sub-genres. At least one list had 48 separate sub-genres under the heading
science fiction. Something I believe they should all have in common is, of
course, science.

Holding
on to some reasonable contact with actual science creates a feeling of
plausibility for the reader that make the suspension of disbelief easier to
maintain. Doing this, however, places a burden on the writer to do his (or her)
homework. You must start by asking questions such as: Is faster than light
travel a possibility? Are their Earth-like planets out there somewhere? What is
a black hole? Are there parallel universes? And so on. Then you must find the
answers.

Two
of my favorite writers were exceptionally good at this. Robert Heinlein asked
questions like: Is it possible for man to live forever? What would it be like
to settle a new planet? What is the basic nature of man? How can we overcome
our limitations? These became central themes to much of his work.

Anne
McCaffrey wrote a 22 book series after asking the question: Are dragons
possible and how? She also asked how would a human society, under extreme
duress, reorganize itself after being cut off form its past and its technology.

Douglas
Adams simply asked: What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?
Which we now all know is 42. He also postulated that in an infinite universe
anything is possible.

These
and other "what ifs" are the jumping off points to great fiction. But
it isn’t enough simply to ask the question. As writers we must find a
possibility where the answers also exits. Like Heinlein I like to ask what is
next for mankind. When and where will be take the next evolutionary step and
what are the possibilities. The answer MUST be based on actual science in order
to get the reader to buy in.

This
is the quality that drives my good friend and writing partner, Skip Miller, up
the wall. Every time he presents me with an idea for what he calls a simple
little story, I start picking it apart and asking those irritating questions.
It isn’t that I dislike his ideas. It’s simply my job to ask.

So next time you find yourself stuck for a great idea for a story start asking
yourself questions that start with “What if?” Then go do your homework
and find the answers.

Humanity
has spread to the far reaches of space with The Golden Door, a planetary
colonization monopoly, selling off every desirable and not so desirable planet
to desperate settlers.

Each new world comes with new
challenges, and to meet that challenge the children are evolving.

When Pieter, and other gifted
children like him, become the target of government research they must fight not
only for their lives but the future of their kind.

EXCERPT

Pieter’s
eyes opened, but it was an exercise in futility. There was nothing but darkness
for him to see. He knew he was awake because of the lancing pain running down
his back and across his chest; the cover on his head was stifling and smelled
of sweat and blood. He was upright in some sort of chair but he was unable to
move. The back of the chair was straight and hard, and he was bound to it with
his arms pinned behind his back. He struggled to breathe. His chest was
stretched as his shoulders pressed into the chair behind him. A cry of pain
rose in his throat, but he clamped his mouth tight to hold it prisoner.

As
he gasped for air and strained to ease the pain in his chest and back, a voice
from beyond the pain alerted him to another presence.

“Suka
is awake.”

“Good.
I want this suka blyad to remember this.”

With
no way of knowing or seeing its approach a hand struck his face, slamming the
back of his head against the hard chair. He could stop the scream, but not the
tears that rained from his eyes.

“Little
boy want to play,” the voice taunted him.

Something
hard crashed into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs. He tried to
breathe, but was unable. What do they want from me?

A
second fist slammed into the side of his face, whipping his head to the right.

“Don’t
kill him,” the first voice warned.

“I
won’t. But he’ll wish I had.”

His
gut roiled and something dark and cold escaped from inside him. Words that
frightened him to say,

“I
could kill you,” he hissed. What he
considered doing was against everything he believed. To kill was to violate the
fifth commandment and would damn him for all eternity.

“I
don’t doubt you could. But if you do you will never leave this room alive and
your entire family will be killed. Is that what you want?”

Pieter
paused while their eyes locked. Something feral had been awakened in him.
“Nyet.”

“Good.
That’s settled. We’ve made arrangements to hold you in a secure place, and in a
way that will protect our people. You understand the necessity for this,
Pieter?”

“Da.”

“Good.
I’m glad we had this chance to talk. Someone will be along soon to move you to
your new room.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Archer Miller emerged from the East Texas hill country and set his
sights on finding the life of which few of his contemporaries dreamed. In 1974,
he migrated to Boulder, Colorado to enroll at the Naropa Institute – now known
as the Naropa University, a tiny Liberal Arts college founded by the renowned
Tibetan Buddhist scholar and lineage holder, the Ven. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
(1940-1987). Rinpoche was enormously influential in spreading the teachings of
Tibetan Buddhism to the West.

Archer earned a degree in
herbs and creative writing. He was a four-year Letterman on the Varsity
Competitive Meditation Team.

After graduating in 1978, he
took a year off to hike the Jack Kerouac literary trail. He became a top
freelance gun-for-hire with dozens of ad agencies across the south and
southwest. As a way to deal with the proliferation of Disco, he took up Zen
Archery.

About Me

Welcome to the Queen of All She Reads Blog. I review all genre of books. Whatever catches my fancy. I either purchase the books or receive the books through a book tour, NetGalley, or the publisher. I do not get paid to review any book.
If you wish to submit your book for review, please see my review policy.
Thank you

Check Out My Stops

Stop Book Piracy In All Forms

Both EBook and Print

Check Out My Stops

Copyright

Reviews, posts and special features are the property of Queen of All She Reads unless otherwise noted. Please don't use them or claim them as your own. The graphics on my site are also the property of Queen of All She Reads, unless provided by a publisher or promotional company for use during a feature.Graphics appearing on the site have been paid for and/or are used with expressed permission from the owner. I do not hold any copyright to any images unless otherwise noted. Please contact me directly if you have any questions about any of the pictures/graphics used on this site.